It is the middle of the 20th century, and in a home economics program at a prominent university, real babies are being used to teach mothering skills to young women. For a young man raised in these unlikely circumstances, finding real love and learning to trust will prove to be the work of a lifetime. In this captivating novel, bestselling author Lisa Grunwald gives us the sweeping tale of an irresistible hero and the many women who love him.

Until Tuesday

A highly decorated captain in the U.S. Army, Luis Montalvan never backed down from a challenge during his two tours of duty in Iraq. After returning home, however, the pressures of his physical wounds, traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder began to take their toll. In constant physical pain, he soon found himself unable to climb a simple flight of stairs or face a bus ride to the VA hospital. He drank; he argued; he cut himself off from those he loved. Then Luis met Tuesday, a beautiful and sensitive golden retriever....

The Blonde: A Novel

It’s early spring 1959, and the word desire is synonymous with America’s most famous blonde: Marilyn Monroe. Being desired is her drug, her kryptonite, the very definition of who she is. It’s so much a part of her identity that her own wants and needs have become fleeting at best, as if she’s seen herself through others’ eyes so often that she’s forgotten what she looks like through her own. But the deepest needs always surface, and there is one thing Marilyn wishes for beyond all else: to meet her real father.

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II

At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, consuming more electricity than New York City. But to most of the world, the town did not exist. Thousands of civilians - many of them young women from small towns across the South - were recruited to this secret city, enticed by solid wages and the promise of war-ending work. Kept very much in the dark, few would ever guess the true nature of the tasks they performed each day in the hulking factories in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.

The Black Tower

Dr. Hector Carpentier leads a very quiet life, until he meets legendary police officer Vidocq, who has used his mastery of disguise and surveillance and his extensive knowledge of the Parisian underworld to capture some of the most notorious and elusive criminals.

Adam Bede

George Eliot’s first full length novel is the moving, realistic portrait of three people troubled by unwise love. Adam Bede is a hardy young carpenter who cares for his aging mother. His one weakness is the woman he loves blindly: the trifling town beauty, Hetty Sorrel, who delights only in her baubles—and the delusion that the careless Captain Donnithorne may ask for her hand.

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte

From Syrie James, the best-selling author of The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, comes a novel that captures the passionate heart and restless soul of Charlotte Brontë—the author who gave the world Jane Eyre while longing for a soulmate.

Family Life: A Novel

In his highly anticipated second novel, Family Life, he delivers a story of astonishing intensity and emotional precision. We meet the Mishra family in Delhi in 1978, where eight-year-old Ajay and his older brother Birju play cricket in the streets, waiting for the day when their plane tickets will arrive and they and their mother can fly across the world and join their father in America. America to the Mishras is, indeed, everything they could have imagined and more: When automatic glass doors open before them, they feel that surely they must have been mistaken for somebody important.

The Jakarta Pandemic

In the late fall of 2013, a lethal pandemic virus emerges from the Islamic Republic of Indonesia (IRI) and rages unchecked across every continent. When the Jakarta Flu threatens his picture-perfect Maine neighborhood, Alex Fletcher, Iraq War veteran, is ready to do whatever it takes to keep his family safe. As a seasoned sales representative for Biosphere Pharmaceuticals, makers of a leading flu virus treatment, Alex understands what a deadly pandemic means for all of them.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home: A Novel

1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life - someone who will help her to heal....

Snowbound

For Will Innis and his daughter, Devlin, the loss was catastrophic. Every day for the past five years, they wonder where she is, if she is - Will's wife, Devlin's mother - because Rachael Innis vanished one night during an electrical storm on a lonely desert highway, and suspected of her death, Will took his daughter and fled. Now, Will and Devlin live under different names in another town, having carved out a new life for themselves as they struggle to maintain some semblance of a family.

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown

In A Thousand Lives, the New York Times best-selling memoirist Julia Scheeres traces the fates of five individuals who followed Jim Jones to South America as they struggled to first build their paradise, and then survive it. Each went for different reasons - some were drawn to Jones for his progressive attitudes towards racial equality, others were dazzled by his claims to be a faith healer. But once in Guyana, Jones' drug addiction, mental decay, and sexual depredations quickly eroded the idealistic community.

Hunting Season

When college kids hiking near an abandoned military industrial complex in West Virginia mysteriously disappear, special agent Janet Carter - earnest, honest, and fed up with the stifling chauvinistic environment at the Roanoke FBI headquarters - is called in to investigate. Unfortunately, there are no leads - it's as if the three just vanished into thin air.

The House at Tyneford

It’s the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When Kit, the son of Tyneford’s master, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford - and Elise - forever. An irresistible World War II story of a forbidden romance in a great English country house.

The Last Chinese Chef

When recently widowed Maggie McElroy is called to China to settle a claim against her late husbands estate, she is blindsided by the discovery that he may have led a double life. Since work is all that will keep her sane, her magazine editor assigns her to profile Sam, a half-Chinese American who is the last in a line of gifted chefs tracing back to the imperial palace. As she watches Sam gear up for Chinas Olympic culinary competition by planning the banquet of a lifetime, she begins to see past the cuisines artistry to glimpse its coherent expression of Chinese civilization.

Thérèse Raquin

Once upon a time, a teenaged Kate Winslet (The Reader, Titanic, Revolutionary Road) received a gift that would leave a lasting impression: a copy of Emile Zola’s classic Thérèse Raquin. Six Academy Award nominations and one Best Actress award later, she steps behind the microphone to perform this haunting classic of passion and disaster.

The Thin Man

Enjoy this classic mystery on its 75th anniversary! The Thin Man introduces Nick and Nora Charles, New York's coolest crime-solving couple. Nick retired from detecting after his wife inherited a tidy sum, but six years later a pretty blonde spies him at a speakeasy and asks for his help finding her father, an eccentric inventor who was once Nick's client. Nick can no more resist the case than a morning cocktail or a good fight, and soon he and Nora are caught in a complicated web of confused identities.

Everything I Never Told You: A Novel

Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet.… So begins the story in this exquisite debut novel about a Chinese American family living in a small town in 1970s Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos.

Between the Bridge and the River

Two childhood friends from Scotland and two illegitimate half-brothers from the deep South suffer and enjoy all manner of bizarre adventures that, it turns out, are somehow interconnected and, even more surprisingly, meaningful. The eclectic cast of characters features Socrates, Carl Jung, and Tony Randall, along with an ex-television evangelist with a penchant for booze, prostitutes, and uncomfortable knitwear who gets mugged in Miami by an almost pure-blooded Watusi warrior - and sets off on a road trip in a stolen motor home.

The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum

Temple Grandin teaches listeners the science of the autistic brain, and with it the history and sociology of autism. By being autistic--by being able to look from the inside out and from the outside in--the author's insights are not just unique, they're groundbreaking. According to Temple, our understanding of autism has been perhaps fundamentally wrong for the past 70 years.

Umbrella: A Novel

While making his first tours of the hospital at which he has just begun working, maverick psychiatrist Zachary Busner notices that many of the patients exhibit a strange physical tic: rapid, precise movements that they repeat over and over. One of these patients is Audrey Dearth, an elderly woman born in the slums of West London in 1890. Audrey’s memories of a bygone Edwardian London, her lovers, involvement with early feminist and socialist movements, and, in particular, her time working in an umbrella shop, alternate with Busner’s attempts to treat her condition and bring light to her clouded world.

The Sparrow

Emilio Sandoz is a remarkable man, a living saint and Jesuit priest who undergoes an experience so harrowing and profound that it makes him question the existence of God. This experience - the first contact between human beings and intelligent extraterrestrial life - begins with a small mistake and ends in a horrible catastrophe.

An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales

To these seven narratives of neurological disorder Dr. Sacks brings the same humanity, poetic observation, and infectious sense of wonder that are apparent in his bestsellers Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. These men, women, and one extraordinary child emerge as brilliantly adaptive personalities, whose conditions have not so much debilitated them as ushered them into another reality.

Windfallen

The tiny, well-ordered seaside village of Merham holds little to interest the adventurous - except for Arcadia, the breathtaking art deco house perched above the shoreline. Attracted to this magical place, young Lottie Swift surrenders freely to its temptations and ultimately must face the hard consequences of her actions. Years later, another young woman comes to Merham. A designer hired to make over the now-empty Arcadia, Daisy Parsons seeks a new beginning, as Lottie once did. Fleeing a broken relationship, Daisy finds refuge at Arcadia, and something more - a love she thought she would never know again.

Audible Editor Reviews

In 1946, Martha Gaines, program director of home economics at Wilton College, receives her twelfth “practice” baby, Henry House  an orphaned child ready to be raised by students in the course as practice for their future as mothers. Martha’s strict and unloving approach to child rearing, based on many of the parenting theories in this pre-Spock era, has no bearing on the fact that she falls deeply in love with little Henry, partly due to her life’s misfortune of losing her own child shortly after it was born. She convinces the dean to let her keep Henry after the two-year time limit and raise him as her own, but Henry quickly proves to be an unemotional little boy, who has trouble returning affections to any one woman. This theme follows him during his life’s journey as he’s shipped off to a school for troubled children, becomes a talented lover of women  and through his character, exemplifies the 60s sexual revolution. As irresistible as he was as a snuggly infant, he proves to be equally so as a young man and adult.

Oliver Wyman’s deep voice lends a documentary-like quality to the novel  appropriate as the story is based on the true use of “practice” babies at colleges in the 40s. Wyman’s slow and methodic story-telling is soothing and his wide range of vocal talents creates believable characters whether he’s imitating a woman’s voice or an infant’s (his baby cries are surprisingly life-like). His approach is warm and enveloping, making even the coldest of characters (like Martha Gaines) have something likeable about them.

This iconic novel is only enhanced by Wyman’s narration and is sure to become a favorite in American literature, among the likes of Forrest Gump and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Colleen Oakley

Publisher's Summary

It is the middle of the 20th century, and in a home economics program at a prominent university, real babies are being used to teach mothering skills to young women. For a young man raised in these unlikely circumstances, finding real love and learning to trust will prove to be the work of a lifetime. In this captivating novel, bestselling author Lisa Grunwald gives us the sweeping tale of an irresistible hero and the many women who love him.

From his earliest days as a practice baby through his adult adventures in 1960s New York City, Disney's Burbank studios, and the delirious world of the Beatles London, Henry remains handsome, charming, universally adored and never entirely accessible to the many women he conquers but can never entirely trust.

Filled with unforgettable characters, settings, and action, The Irresistible Henry House portrays the cultural tumult of the mid-20th century even as it explores the inner tumult of a young man trying to transcend a damaged childhood. For it is not until Henry House comes face-to-face with the real truths of his past that he finds a chance for real love.

What the Critics Say

"Like T.S. Garp, Forrest Gump or Benjamin Button, Henry House, the hero of Grunwald’s imaginative take on a little known aspect of American academic life, has an unusual upbringing....Grunwald nails the era just as she ingeniously uses Henry and the women in his life to illuminate the heady rush of sexual freedom (and confusion) that signified mid-century life." (Publishers Weekly)

"Irresistible." (Kathleen Daly, Newark Star-Ledger)

"The Irresistible Henry House is a soaring, heartfelt novel that spans three decades and an entire continent. Grunwald, author of several novels including Whatever Makes You Happy, creates a wholly original and all too human character in Henry House. Despite his quirks and shortcomings (or perhaps because of them), Henry is one of the most likeable, relatable characters in recent memory." (Amy Scribner, BookPage)

I have listened to hundreds of audiobooks in the past few years, and this is the only one I've felt compelled to write a review on. I disagree with many of the other reviews for Henry House. I felt very sympathetic towards Henry, and his apparent inability to attach himself to others based upon his upbringing. The book did have bits and pieces that were reminiscent of Forrest Gump, however, it is a much different story. I don't want to give away the details of this remarkable book. All I'd like to suggest, is that if you are even slightly interested in reading this book, take the time to read other reviews. I went to another site and found glowing reviews for Henry House. I thought this was an excellent book.

Hey, if anything, this is pure guy lit. Guys can see their complex relationships with the opposite sex in this fantastically novel novel.

Story? First rate. I will admit to losing the line a few times but that wasn't important. I wanted to dislike Henry but couldn't. The author does a brilliant job of infecting the reader with his "charm".

And what a statement on men, women, relationships, childhood! Author Grunwald hits so many notes perfectly right down to descriptions of events that anyone who lived through any part of this period will be able to see, smell, taste---you'll just know it's right.

Nothing is contrived. That is brilliant writing. Read it for that alone and you'll be enriched.

The premise of The Irresistible Henry House is a good one; an orphaned infant is raised in a "Practice House" of a college Home Ec. program in the 40's. Unfortunately, my anticipation for a good yarn was extinguished after hours of the story meandering forward in time, with Henry House crossing paths with the cultural touchstones of the 40's, 50's and 60's. It was like Forrest Gump but without the whimsy and poignancy.
A goal of the story is to show how dispassionately Henry involves himself with the women in his life, indifferent to how destructive his detachment is. But Henry doesn't treat his conquests half as harshly as the author handles his main female characters. They are, for the most part, unattractive, distasteful, friendless women whose sin of aging is regularly pointed out.
The dialogue is not as revealing as it could be and if I was reading the text, I think I would have scanned the quotes to save time.
I would only recommend this if, for some reason, you specifically want a story with an obvious conclusion and that won't make many demands on your imagination. To be a bit misogynistic will help as well.

I enjoyed the first few chapters of this book, and I admired Oliver Wyman's narration, which gave a documentary-like feel to the story. But I started to lose heart when young Henry and young Mary Jane started to talk: maybe there's not much a narrator can do with little kid voices. But I just don't buy the weird love triangle that Grunwald set up; it felt like a plot device. The children felt too much like stereotypical grown-ups: detached boy, lovesick girl. In a novel about the ways that theories of children get in the way of how we experience children, I found this to be particularly disturbing, and I lost my trust in the author.

This book had an interesting beginning. The idea of orphans being used as subjects for home economics classes at a university for a year or two before being sent out for adoption, conjurs up all sorts of possibilities. The character of Henry House who remained at at he university and suffered emotional problems could have been carried over to explore the effect of this program on other "house babies." Instead,the second half of the book, was devoted to Henry's sexual escapades. Enough Already! You can stop listening after the first half of the book as the second half consists of weak and boring sexual exploits.

Yes definitely. In fact I have already told a few friends about this book. I really enjoyed it despite some flaws with the story. It is an ambitious book. The story is about Henry, an irresistible young man who is unable to attach himself to anyone because of his upbringing in a practice house (very interesting). What I didn't like about the book is that the author is always reminding you that Henry is irresistible instead of allowing the story to unfold and the character to develop and grow on you so that you can make your own emotional connection. I liked the character. He is likeable but I didn't see what was SO special or charming about him. With that said, there is more to like in this audio than not - I liked the cultural references, the practice house, the babies, the changing philosophies of how to raise babies, and the ability or lack thereof to love and be able to attach yourself to another person in an authentic way based on your experience as a baby. Plus the narrator is amazing. I want to listen to more Oliver Wyman.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

While I was hoping for a different ending, it was in its own way fitting.

Have you listened to any of Oliver Wyman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No but I will. He was amazing. He brought the story to life.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Not sure, but I think this book could make for a very good movie.

Any additional comments?

I really did like this book and think it is worth the listen. It is a slow start but once it picks up, it is hard to put down.

I really enjoyed Henry House and was intrigued by its premise. It is a well written, entertaining story of attachments, decisions and how we grow from them (or don't grow!) I enjoyed rollicking into the 60s with Henry. I can't think of the last time I got choked up at the end of a book.

Based on the first half hour of this book, I thought I would love this story. The main idea is based on a bit of history (there were, in fact, "practice babies" used by home economics programs) and runs along beautifully until the main character, Henry, starts to move toward his teens. At this point, the author seems to get bored with her original storyline, and instead crafts Henry into someone rather drab, predictable, and unlikable. To me, the character felt inconsistent from his early descriptions and lacked growth throughout. Despite this flaw, I did enjoy the author's use of historical events throughout the tale (somewhat reminiscent of Forrest Gump), and especially the foray into the inner workings of Disney in the 60s. The reader did a great job with what he had to work with, and the pace and intonation were well done.

Five stars for the beginning, dragged down to three by a lack of good character development midway through to the end. I felt like the author lost her passion for this story somewhere along the way, and made up for it with an over-focus on historical events. Not a bad listen, but there are definitely better options out there.

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Can't wait to hear more from this listener?

You can now follow your favorite reviewers on Audible.

When you follow another listener, we'll highlight the books they review, and even email* you a copy of any new reviews they write. You can un-follow a listener at any time to stop receiving their updates.

* If you already opted out of emails from Audible you will still get review emails by the listeners you follow.